NEWSPAPER RECEIVES

As city commissioners struggle to lure more office development into Sunrise Commerce Park, the Sun-Sentinel won approval this week for a new building in the industrial park.

Commissioners unanimously approved the newspaper's plans to build a 32,000-square-foot building on the west side of Nob Hill Road, just south of Commercial Boulevard. City advisory boards had recommended approval.

Fred Hubbard, the Sun-Sentinel's facility manager, said the company hopes to break ground this month and move in next February. The newspaper will lease the building that will be constructed by developers Ed Elwell and Ed Smoker.

Much of the discussion Tuesday night centered on appearance.

Commissioners wanted more shrubs and larger trees to conceal warehouse bays from passing motorists. The newspaper agreed to add landscaping on the 2.65-acre property.

Even with the improvements, Commissioner Fran Klauber said she was "not thrilled by the way it looks."

Kevin Conner, a landscape architect representing the Sun-Sentinel, said bays where newspapers will be loaded into vans between about 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. daily are set back from the road.

The one-story building will serve as a regional distribution center with 88 employees in editorial, advertising, sales and marketing. The site will be a pickup point for vans that deliver the daily newspaper to homes, stores, newspaper boxes and street vendors in Broward County.

The building, across from the Sunrise Musical Theatre, will have a meeting room for community groups.

The Sun-Sentinel will move employees from other offices to the new site. The newspaper has an existing distribution center in Sunrise near the industrial park and an editorial and advertising office in a Lauderhill shopping center on West Oakland Park Boulevard, where the West and Northwest Plus sections are produced.

The Sun-Sentinel is the latest company to choose the 13-year-old park. The city is considering new building and landscaping standards to spruce it up. Other offices and warehouses are under construction or about to be built.

Commissioners approved five other projects on Tuesday at sites throughout the city:

-- Discovery Zone at Sawgrass Mills mall. The indoor amusement center for children 12 and under will open in about six months next to the Waccamaw store. It will have 30 amusement games.

-- Magic Tan at Waterside Shoppes, 8426 W. Oakland Park Blvd. The shop will offer tanning beds, facials and cosmetics. Customers can buy a membership or pay per session. There are eight Magic Tan shops in South Florida, said Sandra Stella, the owner of the Sunrise store.

-- Lady of America Fitness at Sunrise Town Center, 3408 N. University Drive. The health club for women is the second one commissioners have approved this year. It will offer aerobics, cardiovascular equipment and weight machines.

-- Blockbuster Music Plus on the north side of Sunrise Boulevard, west of Flamingo Road. The store, which is slated to open in mid-November, will sell music, not movie videos.

-- Sawgrass Mills Super Auto Sale in the parking lot north of Target Greatland. As many as 750 cars from several dealerships will be for sale July 15 through July 18. If the city does not have problems with traffic or the sale itself, the event could be held four times a year.